iPMI Global Speaks with Jean-Marc Herbet, Regional Business Development Officer at Pacific Cross International
- Written by: iPMI Global
In this exclusive iPMI Global Interview, iPMI Global CEO Christopher Knight met with Jean-Marc Herbet, Regional Business Development Officer at Pacific Cross International, a global private medical insurance provider with 75 years of experience.
Jean-Marc details Pacific Cross's significant growth, emphasizing their localized approach and adaptability to high medical inflation in Asia, particularly in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, while also diversifying into new markets like Myanmar and Cambodia. He highlights the company's strong relationships with brokers, its unique worldwide coverage, and its recent investments in digitalization to improve efficiency.
Please introduce yourself and background in the international private medical insurance market:
First, let me thank you Christopher for giving us the opportunity to present our insurance company to your community. You’ve done extraordinary work with IPMI Global, and you can be proud of what you have achieved.
I started my journey in 1999 in Shanghai working for my Uncle Patrick-Marie Herbet as an Insurance Broker and Financial Advisor at his company Abacare group.
I then moved to Hong Kong in 2000 where I lived with my family for more than 20 years. I spent 9 years with Abacare learning every day the needs of the expatriate community. I also had the opportunity to challenge myself as an Equity derivative broker for 7 years. I then bought an MGA in 2015 named APLUS INTERNATIONAL in Hong Kong, that APRIL INTERNATIONAL acquired in 2022.
A+ was insured by AXA FRANCE but we were restricted in our zone of dvp. That’s how I met Pacific Cross that allowed me to provide health insurance solutions worldwide. It was a relief to meet them because my portfolio was 90 % in Hong Kong, and I could see the rise in medical inflation and wanted to sell elsewhere.
We focused on countries where our big competitors had no interest and we successfully diversified our portfolio in Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, bringing our dependency on Hong Kong to less than 50%. I ‘m now the RBDO of Pacific Cross assisting and serving our 400 brokers globally.
Founded in 1949 Pacific Cross Insurance has 75 years of experience in the global insurance market and covers over 5 million people, from 80 nationalities in 90 countries. How did you do it?
Our ADN since the start is to be as close as possible to our members. We are a local insurer in each country where we operate. Our market is huge with more than 600 million people, but we had to be patient, and gently wait for our communities to understand the importance of obtaining private medical insurance. Medical Inflation is rising very fast, 20 % in Indonesia, 15 % year on year across Asia for the past 10 years, so we had to provide resilient solutions to our community.
With kindness and commitment, we provide everyday solutions to our distributors and members who face medical and travel challenges in the region.
You have offices across Asia Pacific. Can you walk us through Pacific Cross Insurance operations in Asia Pacific?
We have 4 local organisations. In the Philippines, we are the leader in private medical insurance with 70 % market share. In Indonesia where our great team is facing tremendous pressure to provide best everyday solutions due to high rising medical inflation. Vietnam, where our passionate team is working very hard to bring the best private medical insurance solutions to our community. Thailand, our flagship, and top 3 private medical insurance provider across the country delivering outstanding services, and creative offers to a new strong market of offshore retirees seeking the land of smiles.
Finally, Pacific Cross International based in Samoa offering solutions without borders to our local organisations and brokers worldwide.
How widely adopted is international private medical insurance in Asia?
PMI/IPMI for us it’s the same expect the I. Our members have always travelled and needed coverage worldwide. We might be the only one left covering worldwide because our clients need it. Our community have 2 or 3 passports and fly all over the world for work or to care for their loved ones, but they always come back home.
To answer the question, since Covid 19 everything has changed, it’s a completely different world. Governments, who did not care about insurers and brokers selling offshore plans are now being ruthless. Luckily, we are very well locally implemented and serve our members daily.
For Pacific Cross International, the opportunities are elsewhere in very niche products and continents like Africa but also in Central Europe, and the UK where governments are less inclined to subsidise healthcare and are open to let them choose their way.
Health and travel Insurance brokers remain a critical part of insurance distribution. How do you attract and retain international health and travel insurance brokers?
99% of our revenue comes from our distributors so they are indispensable to us. We learn lessons from them every day because they know more than us what their clients need, and we adapt. We see them constantly and reward them the best we can for their hard work and fidelity.
We reward them through high commission and bonuses if they reach their target, plus, we give them profit shares if they provide us healthy business. We are in a very long-term relationship and all of us needs each other to survive. We must ensure low premium increase to ease renewability of the contracts, high commissions, and great solutions to differentiate us.
Our brokers make us better and we care about them so we do everything we can to make them choose us.
Therefore, we created 3 amazing products based on their advice:
- FC200: the most affordable worldwide IPMI plan.
- Bon Voyage Travel Insurance: up to 85 years old, WW zone, family discount.
- E-Protect: Life insurance term plan for USD 50,100K, 6 questions and you covered.
Which online tools and technologies do you offer to your brokers and members?
Our GCIO and his team have done amazing work searching on finding the best digital solutions available. In a very near future, all 5 Pacific Cross entities will be fully digitised.
From assessing the whole customer journey to offering digital and online solutions to our brokers, receiving payment, underwriting with high efficiency, and paying claims with a virtual card.
What would be your message to insurance brokers who are not currently selling Pacific Cross health and travel insurance solutions?
Let’s talk for 10-15 minutes, then you can decide if we can be useful. 2 out of 3 brokers that come to us hear we can provide solutions that others couldn’t. Pacific Cross International is an insurer sans frontier, so we can provide worldwide solutions to locals or expats anywhere in the world in Health, life, travel and accident.
Every health and travel insurance provider requires a professional network of providers to service their clients. Can you walk us through the Pacific Cross Insurance network and the benefits they bring?
Well, thank you for asking Christopher. That’s our forte. Asia is our home, so we know everyone. Even if you are in a remote hospital who does not take GOP or credit card, we will find a local assister to provide assistance.
Nevertheless, worldwide, we count on America Assist and EMA Global who are both part of the International Assistance Group covering 180 countries.
Pacific Cross Insurance also offer a range of travel insurance plans. Why is travel insurance an important part of your portfolio?
Historically our Asian members are great travellers, so we just had to follow them and adapt to their needs. But now, it’s a completely different game. Covid and medical inflation have changed everything. We received everyday hundreds of request form Americans and Europeans in need of travel insurance, like never before. You must have a travel insurance policy now, if you travel, for your own health and financial safety.
Pacific Cross Insurance has recently invested in a rebrand of the business including a new logo and accompanying websites. What else can we expect from Pacific Cross Insurance in the next 12 months?
Simple: Health for Life.
When you don’t need it, you are supposed to buy it. Insurance is like an umbrella; you don’t think about it until it starts raining. But by then, it’s already too late, you got wet! So, buy it when you don’t need it, cause at that time, you are working, and you are hopefully healthy.
For more than 35 years Pacific Cross Insurance and its management have been asked one perennial question, which, up to now has gone unanswered:
Would it be possible to devise a scheme of private medical insurance which can provide both guaranteed benefits and a predictable (if not guaranteed) premium structure throughout the lifetime of an insured?
Why are they asking this question?
- Because they can see that life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past 50 years.
- Because they can see the inflation in everyday goods and particularly in medical insurance premiums.
- Because they can see that Medicine is breaking new frontiers and treatment of diseases only recently fatal have become treatable = live longer.
- Because they can see that the public healthcare system is suffering from chronic funding shortage and rarely offers the latest state of the art treatment like private hospital = more expensive.
- Because they can see that Treatments come with a hefty price tag.
Therefore, they must prepare themselves to have enough medical coverage until the end.
We had to answer those requests, and create a plan that:
- Has high enough benefits to cover expansive surgency and treatment in the best private care.
- Provide lifetime cover.
- Be 100% portable wherever they go and live.
- And if possible, affordable, without premium increase.
The answer is YES.
HEALTH FOR LIFE, YOU PAY 1 PREMIUM, 1 TIME, AND YOU ARE COVERED FOR LIFE
Same as whole life insurance.
Same as buying a house.
Instead of paying 5, you pay 7, nothing miraculous, but what you are doing is to fund the payment of your health insurance premiums for the rest of your life, like a whole life insurance through your lifetime.
After paying all fees, broker, administration fees, we will invest the remaining money into a trust account managed by an investment company. The dividend paid of your investment will pay for the foreseeable premium until the end.
This way with Pacific Cross, you invest in your health for life.
For more information, please contact Jean-Marc Herbet:
Related Reading: Pacific Cross International Bon Voyage Travel Insurance Plan 2024 In Review
